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THE
FALSE CHEVALIER
OR
The Lifeguard of Marie Antoinette
BY
W. D. LIGHTHALL
F. E. GRAFTON & SONS
MONTREAL
1898
_This Edition is intended for circulation only in the Dominion ofCanada._
THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES_After the contemporary acquarelle by Portail._]
(_All rights reserved_)
To
CYBEL, MY WIFE,
THE SWEET COMPANION AND CRITICOF MY LABOURS ONTHIS BOOK
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. THE FUR-TRADER'S SON
II. GERMAIN IN FRANCE
III. THE INNKEEPER'S LESSON
IV. THE CASTLE OF QUIET WATERS
V. MONSIEUR DE REPENTIGNY
VI. EPERGNES AND WAX-LIGHTS
VII. "THE LEAP IS TAKEN"
VIII. THE ABBE'S DISASTER
IX. A PHILOSOPHER BEHIND HORSE-PISTOLS
X. THE GALLEY-ON-LAND
XI. THE COURT
XII. GERMAIN GOES TO PARIS
XIII. A JAR IN ST. ELPHEGE
XIV. THE OLD-IRON SHOP
XV. THE BEGGARS' BALL
XVI. BROKEN ON THE WHEEL
XVII. THE SAVING OF LA TOUR
XVIII. MADAME L'ETIQUETTE
XIX. THE COMMISSION
XX. DESCAMPATIVOS
XXI. THE SHADOW OF THE GOLDEN DOG
XXII. THE SECRET OUT
XXIII. THE EXECUTIONER OF DESTINY
XXIV. A CURIOUS PROFESSION
XXV. FACING THE MUSIC
XXVI. A DUEL
XXVII. JUDE AND THE GALLEY
XXVIII. ANOTHER DUEL
XXIX. THE LETTRE DE CACHET
XXX. THE HEAVENS FALL
XXXI. ONE DEFENDER
XXXII. A STRONG PROOF
XXXIII. THE REGISTER OF ST. GERMAIN-DES-PRES
XXXIV. AT QUEBEC
XXXV. AT ST. ELPHEGE
XXXVI. AT MONTREAL
XXXVII. ONCE MORE THE SWORD
XXXVIII. THE RECORD
XXXIX. THE MARQUIS'S VISITOR
XL. AN UNEXPECTED ALLIANCE
XLI. A POOR ADVOCATE
XLII. A HARD SEASON
XLIII. BACK AT EAUX TRANQUILLES
XLIV. SELF-DEFENCE
XLV. THE NECESSITIES OF CONDITION
XLVI. THE PATRIOTS
XLVII. THE DEFENCE OF THE BODYGUARD
XLVIII. SISTERS DEATH AND TRUTH
XLIX. CIVIC VIRTUE
L. JUDGMENT DAY
LI. LOVE ENDURETH ALL THINGS
LII. THE SUPREME EXACTITUDE
LIII. RETRIBUTION ACCOMPLISHED
PREFATORY NOTE
This story is founded on a packet of worm-eaten letters and documentsfound in an old French-Canadian house on the banks of the St. Lawrence.The romance they rudely outline, its intrigues, its brilliancy ofsurroundings, its intensity of feelings, when given the necessarytouches of history and imagination, so fascinated the writer that theresult was the present book. A packet of documents of course is not anovel, and the reader may be able to guess what is mine and what islikely to have been the scanty limit of the original hint.
The student of history will recognise my debt to many authorities; amongwhom the chief are Paul Lacroix and Taine. I wish it distinctlyunderstood that the person attacked in the documents in question is notthe hero of this narrative.